Air-ship.



J. T. RICE.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1908 Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1905.

Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITE s" tion.

JOEL T. RICE, oF HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.

AIR-spin.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Applicationfiled January so, 1908. Serial No. 413,460.

declare the followin to be a in clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates'to air ships and has for its object to provide an air ship having special means by which the car thereof may be quickly released from the balloon part in case of accident.

-Another object is to provide a specially constructed air ship having the balloon and the upper and lower coverings therefor so constructed that when the balloon is deflated, the lower part thereof will nest upwardly in the upper part thereof, forming a parachute by which the air ship is prevented from descending too rapidly.

For these and other objects which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists of certain novel arrangements and combination of parts of which the herein described air ship is one of many possible embodiments.

While herein I have described minute details, I do not limit myself to these, as the details of arrangements and parts may be greatly varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In the annexed drawings forming part of this specification, which are for illustrative,

purposes only, and, therefore, not drawn to any particular scale, and in which like reference characters represent like parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is aside elevation of the air ship; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fi 1; Fig. 3

' is an enlar ed sectional view ta 'en onthe line 3-3 0 Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the car of the air ship; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged view showing a portion of the upper section of the frame.

The hereindescribed embodiment of my air ship comprises a frame 1, havingan upper section, 2, and a lower section, 3, to which frame is attached the balloon, 3, and the car, 4. The upper section, 2, comprises upper, lower and outside members, 5, 6 and 7, passing entirel around the balloon, 3, and closely fittin around the same. The sections, 5, 6 and 7, are held in spaced relation as shown in Fig. 3 by means of vertical and diagonal braces, 8 and 9. v

The balloon, as stated, lies Within the frame, 2, and is held in placeby means of upper and lower netting, 10 and 11, wrapped around the upper and lower members, 5 and 6, of the upper frame section, 2. To protect the balloon 3 from wear which might be occasioned by rubbing against the frame members 5 and 6 I provide a canvas belt, 12, which extends horizontally entirely around the balloon and is fastened to the lower member, 6, by means of hooks, 13, as shown in 'Fig. 5, said hooks being secured to a cord or' the like, 14, securely riveted, as at 15, to the belt, 12; the parts, 12 to 15 also serve to hold the up er and lower parts of the balloon, 3, in p ace when said parts are serving as a parachute.

The u per forward end of the balloon is provide with a shield} 16, held inthe shape shown in Fig. 1 by means of parallel and meridian braces, 17 and 18. The lower forward end of said balloon is provided with a lower shield, 19, said shield serving to relieve the balloon of the wind-pressure on the forward end thereofwhen the same is in motion.

The lower frame section, 3, is secured to the upper section, 2, by means of vertical and diagonal braces, 20 and 21. The lower section, 3, comprises upper and lower parallel spa ed members, 22 and 23, forming a rectangular frame, but being bent inwardly as at 24, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The mid portions of said members, 22 and 23, are provided with diagonal braces, or struts, 25, to strengthen the same. Con siderably removed from the middle point thereof the opposite u per members are connected by four cross ars, an outer forward cross bar, 26, an inner forward cross bar, 27, an inner rear cross bar, 28, and an outer rear cross bar, 29. The bars, 27 and 28 are provided near each end with upwardly projecting closed U-shaped pieces, 30, for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The car, 4, com rises a lowerportion pieces, 30, and to near the middle point of each side of said cabinare the locking bolts, 34. The inner ends of said locking bolts are pivoted to rotatable disks, 35, mounted for rotation with vertical shafts, 36, the upper and lower ends of which shafts are secured to the sides of said cabin. Rigidly secured to' each of said shafts are the projecting cranks, 37, connected to each other by means of a cross bar, 38, provided with a handle, 39. The cross bar, 38, and the cranks, 37, are disposed near the bottom of the boat and may be covered if desired. It will be seen on reference to Fig. 2 that if the bar, 38, be moved to the left, that the bolts,-34, will all be withdrawn from the U- sha ed pieces, 30, whereby the car, 4, may be ro pled from the air ship, or the upper art 0 t e air ship may be a owed to ascend, caving the car, 4, behind. A pin, 40, may be placed in a suitable recess, 41, to bear agamst the crank, 37, to hold the same in the osition shown in Fig. 2, lest the car, 4,- s ould be.suddenly released from the frame, 3.

v, Extendi'ng longitudinally centrally of the boat, 31, is a main shaft, 42, whichis rotated by a gasolene engine, 43, or any source of power desired. The forward and rear ends of the shaft, 42, are provided with suitable bearings, 44, and gear wheels, 45, said gear wheels projecting upwardly through the 'decks, 46, 47. Centrally longitudinally mounted in the forward end of the frame section, 3, is the forward central shaft, 48,.

rotatably mounted in suitable bearings fastened to the outer forward cross bar, 26,

and the forward end pieces, 49. The rear end of the shaft, 48, is provided with a gear wheel, 50, adapted to intermesh with the forward gear wheel, 45. The forward end of the shaft, 48, is provided with a bevel gear, 51, adapted tointermesh with a horizontal bevel gear, 52, which is in turn adapt ed to intermesh with a smaller bevel gear, 53, rigidly secured to a. propeller shaft, 54, carrying the forward propeller, .55. The shaft, 54, is supported by a horizontally movable pivoted supporting member, 56, all

of said parts being supported by the forwardly projection portion of the s porting frame section'3, forming a partof t e frame 1. The part, 56, may be pivotally adjusted from side to side to guide the air ship in a horizontal direction. Intermediate the ends of the shaft 48, is the intermediate bevel gear, 57, adapted to intermesh with the evel gears, 58, rigidly secured to the laterally projecting shafts, 59, secured to suitable bearings fastened to the side members, 22 and 23, and the frame, 56. The outer ends of the shafts, 59, are provided with bevel gears, '60, intermeshing with smaller bevel gears, 61, rigidly secured to the side propeller shafts, 62,=to' which are fastened the described.

propellers, 63. The shafts, 62, are rotatably mounted in the bearing supports, 64, pivoted upon the shafts, 59, to move in a longitudinal vertical plane, whereby the air shi maybe guided vertically. The rearen s of the suplports, 64, are provided with segmental 704,375, and for this reason are not further i The frame section, 3, is vided with rear side propellers, 68, adapted for rotation in the space around which members, 22 and 23, are bent at 24. The pro- .pellers, 68, are operated and adjusted by mechanism exactly similar to that for oper ating the propellers, 63, and receive their power from the rear longitudinal shaft, 69, provided with an end gear, 70, adapted to intermesh 'with the rear gear, 45. The

upper frame section, 2, is provided at its' rear end=with an end cross piece, 71, and a cross piece, 72, spaced arallel with the cross piece, 71. Rotata ly mounted in suitable bearings fastened near the ends of said last-named cross pieces, are the upper propeller shafts, 73, provided with propelers, 74, and intermediate sprocket wheels,;

75, rotatably connected bymeans of sprocket chains, 76, with sprocket wheels, 77, at the rear end of the shaft, 69.

It will be noticed that when the car, 4, is in the position shown in Fig. 1, that the gear wheels, 45, will intermesh with -the gear I wheels, 50, and 7 0, but in such manner that when the car, 4, is released from the frame 1, that the gear wheels, 45,50 and 70, easily disengage from each other.

If desired, I may provide in the car, 4, a

tank, 78, in which may be stored compressed or li uefied hydro en, or other gases, with which to charge 1; e'-balloon.' The same is connected with the balloon by means of tubes, 79, suitably fastened to the lower part ofthe balloon, as atv 80, and'secured to the pipe, 81, in any well known manner, said pipe communicating with the tank, 78, and being provided with a valve, 82, by which the flow of hydrogen from' the tank is controlled. Thetank, 78,-may alsobe pressure gage, 83.

provided with a The car, 4, may be so arranged that when i desired it can be madetight, and Imay provide therein a storage tank, 84, in which may be stored oxygen fortheoccupants of the car when the air ship rises to heights where the air is too rare to support respiration. The boat, 31, is provided with an ordinary rear propeller, 85 mounted to rotate with the shaft, 86, on the bearing, 87. Slidably secured on the forward end of the shaft, 86, but

constrained to rotate therewith, is the gear,

88, provided with'a rear grooved extension, 89. An actuating piece, 90, is longitudinally slidably mounted in the bottom of the boat, 31, the rear end thereof being provided with an encircling piece, 91, adapted to fit in the groove of the extension, 89, said piece, 90, serving to slide said gear, 88, in or out of gear with a smaller gear, 92, rigidly secured to the rear end of the shaft, 4-2. When the engine is used to propel the air ship, the propeller, 85, is allowed to remain at rest by throwing said gears out of mesh.

If the balloon, 3, should through accident become suddenly deflated before the air ship has time to descend while it is supported by the gas in the balloon, the air pressure on the lower partof the balloon will force the same upwardly 'to nest in the upper part, thus forming a downwardly convexed portion which serves as a parachute to cause the air ship to descend slowly enough not to be damaged when it lights.

the water, substantially as describe As described, the lower part of the car, 4, comprises a boat, and the whole-car is provided with means whereby the car can be suddenly detached from the balloon in case of accident and then can be ropelled as desired by means of the ropeller, 85.

It is thought that t e operation and advantages of my air ship Wlll be understood without further explanation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. In an air ship a supporting frame, a balloon secured to said frame, means to protect the balloon from being worn by contact with the frame, a floatable car, connecting devices to secure said car to the frame, and

means wherebysaid devices are operated to disconnect the car from the-frame, substan-' tially asdescribed.

In an air ship, a supporting frame comprising an upper balloon attaching section and a lower car attaching section, means to attach said balloon to the upper section of the frame, .a protecting belt around said balloon, {a floatable car in the lower section of said frame, connectin devices to secure said car to said section of the frame, means whereby said connecting devices are operated to disconnect the car from the frame, and means whereby said car may be pm elled in 3. In an air ship, a supporting frame comprising an upper balloon attaching section and a lower car attaching section, braces arran ed between and connecting said sections of t 1e frame, a balloon in said upper frame section, a rotecting belt around said balloon, fiexib e fastening devices adapted to secure said balloon in said upper section of the frame, a floatable boat-shaped car in said lower section of the frame, connecting devices arranged in said car and adapted to be and a lower car attaching section, brace rods v arranged between and connecting said upper and lower frame sections, a balloon in said upper section of theframe, means to protect the balloon from wear by contact with the frame, a wind shield to cover the forward end of said balloon, upper and lower netting sections secured to the upper portion of the frame and arranged around said balloon, a fioatable car in the lower section of the frame, and meansto detachably connect said car to the frame, substantially as dc,- scribed.

5. In an air ship, a supporting frame comprisin an upper balloon attaching section and aIower car attaching section, said up er frame section comprising spaced para lel members, a balloon arranged in said upper section, a flexible on the balloon, ba con attaching cords secured to said belt, hooks arranged on the free ends of said cords and ada ted to be engaged with one of said para el members of the upper frame section whereby said balicon is fastened to said section, and upper and lower netting sections arranged around said balloon and fastened to said frame secprisin' an upper balloon attaching section and .a ower car attaching section, brace rods to secure said sections together in operative position, a balloon in said upper section of the frame, a floatable car in said lower frame section, slidably mounted connecting bolts arranged in said car and adapted to be projected into and out of engagement with the lower sections of said frame whereby said car rotecting belt arranged is detachably secured thereto, bolt-operating shafts, disks mounted on said shafts and operatively connected to said bolts, operating cranks connected to said shafts, means to connect said cranks whereby they are operated in unison to simultaneously retract said bolts and thereby disconnect said car from the frame, and means to propel the car in Water when disconnected from the frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

U JOEL T. RICE. Witnesses:

BENJ. G. CowL, D. M.. KrLrA'rnIoK. 

